Actions from DebraSPARCMovable Type Pro 4.382011-08-23T11:26:45Zhttp://www.kcet.org/user/profile/mt-cp.cgi?__mode=feed&_type=actions&username=debrasparcCommented on Public Art Replicas on the 101: Mural or not a Mural? in Departures Columnstag:www.kcet.org,2011:/socal/departures/landofsunshine//1488.36126#292052011-08-23T18:26:45ZDebraSPARC
While I applaud CalTrans efforts and intention, I do not agree with how these pieces have been reproduced. They should be called "Flapping in the Wind Replica Murals." The inherent dignity of the monumental scale of some of the original murals should have been honored, it's almost a joke to see the indignity bestowed on our mural legacy, I can almost hear our mural community all over the world LOL right now. Fortunately, there is a way to reproduce a mural that honors the muralist and the mural, just ask SPARC and MCLA.

The larger problem in all of this is a lack of foresight and vision for a respected mural maintenance initiative. These freeway murals were given their rightful public space in 1984 during the Olympics and for many years remained untouched. Had there been a systematized or standardized way of maintaining the murals, ultimately we could have won the battle of their destruction, but instead we lost the war. The problem just got out of control beyond what anyone could have imagined.

It has been said; "the code of the street has been broken" and for those of us charged with the task of tending the "code of the street," we need real solutions, real partnerships and real dollars. Until this happens, perhaps we should create a graveyard park for murals that have been lost, destroyed, removed, or whitewashed.